Sunday’s Food for Thought: Washington Redskins

Posted by Blake the Megalomaniac (Follow Me)- Blake the Megalomaniac is a graduate of Virginia Tech and now lives the Adams Morgan section of Washington DC. - To see more posts by this author click here

The crux of my argument is brought to you via the ubiquitous social network Facebook (seems these days everything centers around FB, Twitter or Obama — am I right?). Someone’s status update from last night:

Jane Doe thinks Redskins fans are absolutely ridiculous. Just in case you morons didn’t know, beating the Steelers in PREseason withOUT their starting QB doesn’t make you good. Get a clue.

19 hours ago · Comment · Like

This got me thinking.  Those thoughts are as follows:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t begin this piece with a standard challenge to this Northern Virginia “Steelers’ fan,” but I do have to agree with Jane Doe’s assertions that the Redskins have less to be hopeful about after last night than many fans think.

Let me say this; the common theme around our area has centered around 1) the plethora of Cowboys’ fans in the capital region and 2) the infestation, nationwide but specifically in the capital region, of the Steelers proud tradition. The one comment I want to make is this: call the Washington D.C. metro area what you will, “transient” or “wishy washy”, but Redskins’ followers have a proud tradition too and if a preseason win over the world champion Steelers gives some a cause for celebration then so be it. There hasn’t been a lot to celebrate about the Skins since the beginning of last season.  I haven’t encountered many who believe last night’s win is enough to purchase tickets to Miami and I think the people who were caught saying things like, “the Redskins are going to the Superbowl,” were saying it in jest.

To Jane Doe and those like her who get heated when we celebrate a preseason win, however half-heartedly, I’ll say this:  Being a fan, you can root for whomever you’d like especially the Cowboys or the Steelers; however, you lose some credibility when you cannot even tell me who Jack Lambert or Tony Dorsett is.  You cannot talk of your team’s proud tradition when the extent of your knowledge on said tradition begins in 2005.  Call me a football elitist or a purest and I’ll call you a front-runner.  This is Washington D.C..  We’ll think what we want about our team.  If you want positive remarks on your team then move to your team’s city.

To reiterate, be a fan of whomever you’d like.  But be able to back up your stance or be quiet.  It’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.  Similarly, it’s easy to be a fan when your team is bringing home championships but I’ll look for you when your in the midst of a downturn as all organizations are inclined to experience and see if you still have your Ben Roethlisberger jersey on.

Onto the Redskins — if you caught the post game press conference with Jim Zorn then, like me, you may be thinking that he’s officially in-over-his-head. It pains me to say it and by no means does that mean he won’t be successful this year but the contrast between his approach in an open forum and Greg Blache’s is glaring and bit unsettling.  No one said you have to be a savvy orator to be a good head coach though so I’ll move on.

Last night’s game taught me as, Jane Doe from Facebook begrudgingly pointed out, “we’re still not good.”  Our defensive coordinator also made it plainly clear; their first teamers sans Ben Roethlisberger beat our first teamers at full strength: 7 to 3.  Charlie Batch drove the ball down the field like Byron Leftwich circa 2008 MNF, amidst mental mistakes from both the home team and the visitors, through the air mind you, making it possible for Willie Parker to run around the right side for a touchdown.

Our offense was improved from the first showing against the Ravens or was it? Remember it took a fake punt to ward off a three-and-out after Jason Campbell threw three incomplete passes in a row (granted Santana Moss dropped one on third down that would have given us a 1st down).  Campbell displayed some athleticism that his proponents would like to see more of, stepping up in the pocket numerous times avoiding the edge rushers and running for 4 yards on one 2nd and 8 play capping it off with a terrible slide.  He went something like 1 for 7 by the way.

Ladell Betts and Clinton Portis did well behind a much maligned offensive line that actually held up and did well to quiet their detractors.  Portis, for the most part, ran complacently. He ran like he usually does, like he was happy to get what he could and get down which isn’t simply due to the preseason but his overall mindset regarding football.  He’s a great player, he’s willing to block as he showed with a great blitz pickup in the first quarter, he’s willing to catch passes and he’s willing to make tackles on interceptions but is he willing to do the things necessary to LEAD this team?  Basic things like switching the ball to your outside hand when running the sideline and not going out of bounds when you can get 10 extra yards or touchdown instead.  It remains to be seen if he’ll continue being a prima donna and taking himself out of the game every other play or if he’ll do what he did on the first drive inside the redzone when stopped on a dime at the sideline, after gaining eight yards, almost avoiding Ryan Clark and scoring.  Almost. (Speaking of leading this team; who is the unabashed leader?)

So where does this game leave us?

In an era of meteoric contracts, it seems money isn’t the chief motivator for players all the time.  Sometimes you have to challenge their manhood. When Jim Zorn called his players “soft,” publicly, it hit home.  From top to bottom, everyone played better on Saturday night but ‘better’ is relative to the level of ineptitude displayed the week before.  As as poster on the Redskins’ message board, The Warpath, pointed out, “softness starts at the top.”  This means you Jim Zorn.  You have to dictate the mentality of your team by impressing upon them the importance of preseason games especially for a team that went 8-8 a year ago and hasn’t accomplished anything significant that would support this attitude against the preseason.  More contact drills perhaps.  More time spent in full pads wouldn’t hurt.  Taking the kid gloves off of underachieving draft picks and snobby veterans while reiterating what everyone is thinking, if these guys are hurt-all-the time and you hold them out when they’re borderline healthy, how are you ever going to see what they can do or see where they’re at?   September 13th in New York isn’t the time to find out that Clinton Portis or Albert Haynesworth aren’t “who we thought they were,” to quote Dennis Green.

Finally:

1. Chris Samuels, Derek Dockery, Casey Rabach, Randy Thomas, and Stephon Heyer are not going to be the weak spot of the team; if, they stay healthy and maintain a mentality that is the antithesis of ‘soft.’
2. Marko Mitchell should make the team; if not for his play, then for the chip on his shoulder.  He’s proving that if you can catch the ball consistently and do the things that serviceable NFL receivers do then you won’t be on the fourth team for long.  He’s already been more productive than Marques Haggans and D.J. Hackett.  It also doesn’t hurt that he’s not afraid to mix it up, which proves he isn’t ‘soft.’
3. The Secondary?  Whether curious defensive play calling in the redzone or just tentative play from the corners and safeties, they didn’t look great.  When is LaRon Landry going to step to the forefront and become a force?  He does everything he’s asked to do but for our defense but to be the best we’re going to need him to be an Ed Reed type, no?
4. Does anyone want to be play nickel cornerback?  They’ve said Fred Smoot has lost a step.  Justin Tryon still has some growing pains to overcome.  All this equals to open competition.  Competition is good.  Let’s hope these guys we have like to compete and aren’t ‘soft.’

What did you learn from this second preseason game?

udothedishes . . .

Related posts:

1. Washington Redskins 2009 Outlook
2. Washington Redskins: 1st Quarter Thoughts and Beyond
3. Sunday’s Food for Thought
4. Sunday’s Food for Thought
5. Tuesday’s Food for Thought

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